Featured Stories – Page 84
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Premium ❘ FeatureFrancesca Dego: chance of a lifetime
For Italian violinist Francesca Dego, the opportunity to perform and record on Paganini’s ‘Il Cannone’ Guarneri ‘del Gesù’ of 1743 was a dream come true. She shares with Tom Stewart her experiences with the rarely accessed instrument – which came complete with security guards and its own dressing room
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VideoCellist Nicholas Gold plays The Swan in the snow
In the video, the American cellist Nicholas Gold plays Saint-Saëns’s The Swan in the snow. Gold says: ‘my friend convinced me to go outside and play the cello in this rare snow storm in Nashville, TN. You can obviously hear the cello pegs fall and I said “peg slip” ...
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Blogs‘You can see me, but I can’t see you!’ – Rachel Smith on performing in front of cameras, without a live audience
To tie in with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s 6-week series of streamed lunchtime concerts, Rachel Smith, one of the orchestra’s violinists, reflects on the experience of performing chamber music in the time of Covid
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VideoDebussy’s Sonata for Cello and Piano: a film fusing music and narrative
In this video - the first in a series fusing music and narrative - cellist Alexander Hersh plays Debussy’s Cello and Piano with pianist Victor Asunción. Hersh says: ‘With the onset of a worldwide pandemic, I’ve come to regard beautifully conceived and filmed classical music videos as an existential imperative ...
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FocusHow to play cantabile on the cello
Ahead of her new album release, the French-Swiss cellist Ophélie Gaillard explains how she simulates the vocal expressiveness of a melodic line on the cello
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VideoViktoria Mullova plays Mozart in 1989
In this video the Soviet-born violinist Viktoria Mullova plays Mozart’s Violin Concerto No 5 with Das Württembergische Kammerorchester Heilbronn under Jörg Faerber in 1989 - just a few years after escaping from the Soviet Union at the age of 23. Watch: Viktoria Mullova plerforms Bach Violin Concertos Read: ...
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FocusTai Murray on expanding the classical repertoire
The violinist stresses the importance of profiling contemporary composers of every visual colour and every invisible one
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NewsFinalists announced in Jascha Heifetz violin competition
A jury chaired by Gidon Kremer will choose the winner at the finals in May
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NewsWigmore Hall unveils programme of 40 live-streamed concerts
More than 200 players will have the chance to play at the London venue over the next six weeks
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Focus‘Balancing violin and harpsichord requires a stretch of the imagination’ - Simon Standage
Early music expert Simon Standage discusses historically informed performance, interpretation and balancing violin and harpsichord in Bach’s Violin Sonata in E major
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VideoViolinist Anne-Sophie Mutter performs Mendelssohn aged 14
Anne-Sophie Mutter performs Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto with the Munich Philharmonic conducted by Gerd Albrecht in 1978 at the age of 14. Read: Anne-Sophie Mutter on Herbert von Karajan and John Williams Read: ‘Extremes of constant vibrato or none at all do not solve musical problems,’ says violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter
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VideoDan Flanagan plays Shadow Breaking: a piece inspired by a painting
In this video, violinist Dan Flangan plays Shadow Breaking, a new piece by Nathaniel Stookey. It’s part of a lockdown project for Flanagan, who has commissioned 16 composers to write solo violin pieces for him, each inspired by a painting in the violinist’s collection. The composers include Libby Larsen, ...
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Focus3 questions for Liu Ming - new concertmaster of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra
At just 25-years-old, Liu Ming is the orchestra’s second youngest concertmaster in its 141 year history. Here she shares a tip for being a good orchestral leader, and describes how the pandemic affected her approach to the role
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VideoMusical Postcard: Lunar New Year
A musical postcard from violist Hsin-Yun Huang to celebrate Chinese New Year. Music: Bloch Suite 1919 Dancer: Su-Chen Cuff Viola: Hsin-Yun Huang Piano: Lucas Amory Read: Why we should all be violists
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VideoPatricia Kopatchinskaja and Joonas Ahonen play Schoenberg
The violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja and pianist Joonas Ahonen play Schoenberg’s Phantasy for Violin and Piano, Op.47 in August 2020 as part of the Gstaad Menuhin Festival. Read: ‘Now I am completely mad’ – Patricia Kopatchinskaja on playing Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire
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Focus‘It’s about how we can react quickly and say, “But today everything is possible”’ – Modigliani Quartet on playing through the pandemic
For the Modigliani Quartet, working with other artists has always been a priority – one that continues this year as the group turns its attention to Schubert. Charlotte Gardner speaks to the French foursome about working through Covid times
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VideoThe Lysander Piano Trio plays Jakub Ciupinski’s Black Mirror
In this music video, the Lysander Piano Trio (violinist Itamar Zorman, cellist Michael Katz and pianist Liza Stepanova) plays Jakub Ciupinski’s Black Mirror from their new album: mirrors. Film by Sara Pettinella // Little Comb Productions Watch: Carducci Quartet plays Philip Glass’s String Quartet No.5 with drummer Cristián Tamblay Watch: ...
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FocusHow we maintained a chamber music career in lockdown – the Carducci Quartet
Though full of career challenges, the last year has also opened up new musical opportunities, explains the Carducci Quartet
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VideoCamille Thomas plays Fazil Say’s ‘Never Give Up’
The Belgian cellist plays Fazil Say’s Concerto For Cello & Orchestra (II. Terror - Elegy From ‘Never Give Up’) with the Brussels Philharmonic conducted by Stéphane Denève. Read: Sentimental Work: Camille Thomas
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DebateOpinion: A new light
Debussy’s Sonata for flute, viola and harp is just one of many works written for that combination, and is a prime example of how loosening fixed traditions can open new and exciting sound worlds, writes Toby Deller
